In Somepony's Shadow

by Whammy

Dinner Party - Part 2

At first her conversation with Rarity had been going quite well, but after a while Trixie found her mind drifting as the mare went on and on about the dresses. While she was all for thinking about your outfit for a show, the amount of detail Rarity had put into it was beyond her, and so it wasn’t long before she had gone into auto-pilot, the occasional nods and noises the only signal she was paying attention at all. Unlike Luna, who usually caught onto it pretty quickly, Rarity hadn’t noticed it by the time another white-coated mare arrived.

“Trixie, dear, you don’t mind if I steal away Miss Rarity, do you?” Fleur said, setting a hoof on Rarity’s shoulder, eliciting a small but dignified “Eep!” from her.

“Fleur darling, I’m so sorry. I was showing Trixie here my designs for her Gala dress and the time completely slipped from me,” Rarity replied. She had started to put the sketchbook away, but Fleur took a hold of it with her own magic and began to flip through it.

“Hmm, not bad at all, Rarity. You’re quite the lucky mare, Trixie, to have such a skilled designer creating your dress,” Fleur said as she returned the sketchbook.

“Oh, uh, right,” Trixie said as she regained her sense of the conversation. “Yes, thank you again for making my dress. It will be the grand jewel of my plan to show-up that Prince Blueblood,” she said with the hint of a mischievous smirk.

“Wait, is that what you plan on doing at the Gala?” Rarity replied, brow furrowed.

“Your very first Gala and you’re already aiming for the top of the social ladder? My, you’re the ambitious one,” Fleur added. Trixie was not sure what to make of the smile she gave as she said it, but it definitely suggested she approved of the plan.

“Well, yeah. I was in the castle kitchen the other night when he came by, and when he saw me he started talking about needing to deal with ‘complications’ and that if I ruined this for him he was going to make my time in Canterlot an ‘unpleasant experience.’”

“That sounds like him alright,” Rarity said, rolling her eyes.

“Indeed. Ever since he was put in charge of this Gala he has become quite the little tyrant. Of course, considering what happened the last time he attended, I am somewhat sympathetic,” Fleur said, giggling as she looked over at Rarity.

“Why, what happened?” Trixie said, confused.

“You see, Trixie, last time I went to the Gala I had gone with the expectation of wooing Prince Blueblood in hopes of getting the fairy tale romance of my dreams,” Rarity said, sighing wistfully before her expression turned sour. “Unfortunately, turns out he was a selfish, self-centered oaf who literally threw me in front of him so I’d take a cake to the face instead of him. It was the worst night in my entire life.”

“After that night, his reputation was sunk, and he’s been clawing his way back up ever since. It doesn’t surprise me he has become so obsessed with the perfect Gala,” Fleur added. “Granted, throwing an exquisite party does go a long way here, but an improvement in attitude would be much preferred.”

“Yeah, well, not much I can do about that,” Trixie replied. “But what I can do is make him eat his words. I, Trixie, will be the greatest guest that the Gala has ever seen,” Trixie said, again proudly motioning towards herself.

“Hmmm, I would probably start with not saying things like ‘make him eat his words,’” Rarity replied. “Still, though I sadly cannot be your guest as I was not invited this year for reasons completely unknown to me, –” Trixie noticed Rarity smiling proudly as she said that “– if you want to be the ‘best guest ever’, I would be happy to help you prepare for the Gala and help you refine your social etiquette.”

“Thanks, that would be great!” Trixie said, though she had thought her social etiquette was quite good. “And you really don’t mind helping a revenge plot while being, you know, one of the Elements of Harmony?”

Rarity laughed. “Revenge? No, I’m simply generously donating my time to help a friend learn the fine art of high society,” she said, giving Trixie a wink.

“Yes, that sounds like perfect Element of Generosity behavior,” Fleur said, giggling. “I wish you luck in your quest, Trixie,” she continued, starting to turn away to leave. “Your presence alone suggests that this year’s Gala will be quite entertaining, so please don’t disappoint.”

“I can promise you that by the time we’re done, you will be the belle of the ball,” Rarity said, joining Fleur in leaving. “Enjoy the rest of your evening, Trixie! I’ll be at the castle tomorrow to take your measurements.”

With that Trixie was once again left to her own devices. Levitating over a hoof-sandwich, she idly munched as she looked over the party to figure out what to do next, not quite sure how to do a proper approach in this setting. Luna, meanwhile, looked like she was doing okay, off chatting with…well, Trixie didn’t know who they were, but she was chatting with them. In fact, from the looks of things just about everypony was in engaged in conversation with somepony else. That meant no random loners to just saddle up to and start chatting.

Welp, time to be more aggressive! She wasn’t going to be the awkward loser standing at the punch bowl at the party all night. Not this time, at least.

Figuring there was no better reason to force herself into a conversation, she aimed her sights at the nearest pair of ponies to her. Her ears twitched as she approached, sensing that whatever it was that they were talking about.

“Yes, it appears that she might not be in the most right of mind,” the stallion said.

“Right? All that just over a little bat? It’s just a bat!”

Well, whatever that was about, it didn’t sound important at all, so Trixie had no guilt interrupting them, though she did give a small cough to alert them to her presence before speaking.

“This has been a most splendid party so far, hasn’t it?” Trixie said, again slipping into a bit of a more “high Canterlot” accent to match the two. She had to smile when they looked surprised at her intrusion. They apparently knew the stakes that came with talking with her, the apprentice.

“Oh, why yes, it has been a lovely evening. I don’t believe we’ve had the pleasure to meet you before, our dear Princess’s apprentice,” the stallion said, holding out a hoof. “I’m Jet Set, and this is my wife Upper Crust.”

“Yes, we were so looking forward to talking with you this evening,” the mare added.

Trixie shook Jet Set’s hoof as she introduced herself.

“Oh no, the pleasure is all mine. You can call me Trixie,” she said. A moment of silence passed as she realized she didn’t know how to follow up with that. Fortunately, the other two knew something to talk about.

“Say, you wouldn’t happen to be a fan of airships, would you?” Jet Set replied.

Trixie, of course, had never actually been on one. She had seen them, though, so that had to count for something.

“Why of course I am. Who wouldn’t be? Why, I remember when I was younger my family and I would spend the weekends going to parties on them. Haven’t had the chance to ride on ever since I struck out on my own, though.”

“Your family used to party on them all the time?” Jet said, looking at her with a bit of suspicion. “What did you say was your full name again?”

Oh shoot, this was not good. Still, she could spin her way out of this, no problem.

“Trixie Lulamoon, of the Lulamoons. We’re kind of a small family, keep to ourselves outside the occasional social event. Wouldn’t surprise me if the name didn’t ring a bell.”

She gave the two a smile, hoping that would be enough to convince them to move on.

“Oh, right, the Lulamoons. I vaguely recall that name somewhere. Perhaps they had been to a party or two of ours,” Jet Set replied, though him rubbing his chin suggested he was still quite confused.

If they had any kids that had attended magic school when she went, chances were they might have known her from that. But since fully remembering that would blow her little story right out of the water, it was probably best to get them to move on.

“Anyway, if the two of you have an airship, I would love to visit sometime, rekindle those childhood memories and all,” she said, glancing between the two.

“Well, we had just talked with Princess Luna earlier about providing various vehicles for the guard. Perhaps after a tour of our facilities you’d be able to give the princess a more informed opinion of what we can provide?”

Trixie had been in the travelling performer game long enough to know this kind of stunt. This being Canterlot high society, though, she was totally aware this was normal, but she probably would get in trouble with Luna if she made any promises about that kind of stuff without her.

“Hmm, I can see if I can fit it into my busy schedule. As Luna’s apprentice I have a lot of important duties to attend to. Plus, we’re usually up all night and sleep during the day, which might make it a bit difficult to do anything really,” Trixie said. “I think we can try and arrange something, though.”

There, a non-committed commitment! Smooth. She watched the two ponies look at each other before giving her an answer.

“Oh, well, we’ll send out an invitation the next time we have a party,” Upper Crust responded.

“Yes, we’ll make sure to let you know. If you will excuse us, however, we have some other business to attend to this evening. It was a pleasure to meet you,” Jet Set added.

“Likewise,” Trixie said, watching as the two left, mumbling to themselves. “And that was a perfect conversation. I got this best Gala guest thing in the bag,” she said levitating over another hoof sandwich….and then a few more. Seriously, why were these things so small?

She pondered that thought as she ate, watching as what looked like a band was starting to set up. Classical music, from the looks of it. Ugh, now she remembered why these types of events always bored her so much. Glancing over at Luna, now chatting with some Earth Pony stallion, she wondered if the princess was having a good time…

---

“Yes, I am thankful for your offer on providing the guard new uniforms, but I am afraid I can’t discuss such matters tonight,” Luna said, really holding back her annoyance at yet another round of ‘pony obviously trying to get her to buy something’.

“Oh, yes, of course your majesty. I’m quite aware of the royal protocol regarding such matters. I had simply wished to comment that perhaps the guard uniforms could use a change and wanted to offer some advice,” the stallion in front of her replied. It was quite a transparent excuse.

“Your advice has been noted, Hoity Toity. Perhaps you can offer your advice the next time the uniform goes up for review, at the public hearings on the matter.”

“Very well, Princess Luna. It has been splendid talking with you, but I must talk with Fleur about our next show together before the band arrives. Enjoy the rest of your evening. Quite literally, I believe,” he said, chuckling as he walked off. She waited for him to turn around before rolling her eyes, that having now been the, what, third, fourth time she had heard that joke this evening?

Honestly, though, she was starting to find this evening quite draining. Sure, nobles and merchants using official dinners to strike business deals was even older than her, but now knowing Celestia had put in rules regarding such matters, she had hoped her experience with Jet Set and Upper Crust had been a one-off error. Instead, it was her entire night. Perhaps this was simply an attempt to take advantage of her naivete about such things which, well, had already been the case with Jet Set and Upper Crust. Most of the other ponies were not as blunt as they had been, of course, but after sometime it was quite clear what it was they had hoped to achieve. How Celestia ever kept herself from lashing out she would never know.

Fortunately, the sounds of various stringed instruments playing suggested something much more her style was to come. Still, she was not too familiar with the particular piece. It sounded somewhat closer to the music she was familiar with – nothing like the ‘electronic’ or ‘popular music’ that was so common these days – but perhaps a few centuries later? She had studied up on what was now called “classical music”, but she still had to work on learning pieces by ear. Still, from the looks of it this was a well-known enough piece that just about everypony – Trixie being a rather notable but expected exception – seemed to be moving to the dance floor.

More intriguing, however, was they seemed to be dancing on their hindlegs, using their partner to provide support? That was quite odd. Most dances she was aware of did not require such obviously difficult positioning for creatures such as themselves.

“Ah, your majesty, perhaps you’re not familiar with this dance?”

Luna turned to find Fancy Pants had approached her, Fleur standing right next to him.

“Well, yes, I do admit I am not quite familiar with this dance. Is it new?”

Fancy Pants wiggled a hoof.

“Relatively speaking. A few decades back there was a ball held to celebrate a new treaty with the minotaur territories. Ponies were absolutely fascinated with their dancing on two legs, and when combined with the classical ballroom dances it created a particularly challenging dance that is quite popular among the Canterlot elite.”

“Mostly because being able to pull it off shows a high level of grace and dexterity. In other words, a grand way to show off,” Fleur added.

“And no one does it better than you, dear,” he said, extending a hoof to Fleur. “We better get started soon. It’d be rude for the hosts to not participate.”

After a second, however, he turned to look at Luna.

“Unless of course you would like for one of us to teach you the steps?”

“Oh, no, thank you, but I’m perfectly fine. You’ve worked hard for this party, and I would hate to get in the way of your first dance of the night. Besides, it seems my apprentice is in need of some company,” Luna said, noticing Trixie was still by herself.

“Well, I commend your loyalty to your ward, Princess. Perhaps later you can do us the honor of sharing a dance?” Fancy Pants replied.

“I would appreciate that,” Luna replied.

Everypony gave each other polite bows before separating: Fancy Pants and Fleur to the dance floor, Luna to the buffet table and Trixie.

“Having a pleasant evening so far, Trixie?” Luna said, taking the opportunity to sit. The ground was a little cold from the evening air, but she wanted to relax. All that talking had absolutely drained her.

“Oh, yeah, it’s been great so far. Talked to a couple of ponies, ate some sandwiches. Honestly, not that much different from my school dances,” Trixie said, levitating over two glasses as she took a seat herself. “Punch?”

“Yes, thank you,” Luna said, sipping some of the fruity drink as she watched the ponies begin to dance. “Speaking of dances, do you not wish to join them?”

Trixie laughed.

“Yeah, no, I’m good. I got enough of this dance back at school. Never really liked it, or the music,” she said, gulping down the whole glass of punch in one go. “I still get nightmares about our music instructor.”

“You do? Trixie, why did you not let me know? I would have gladly assisted you in conquering such a nightmare,” Luna said.

Trixie, however, just looked at her wide-eyed and began to wave a hoof.

“Sorry, it was just a joke! I mean, I really didn’t like that class much, but I don’t literally have nightmares about her.”

“Oh, that is good to hear,” Luna said, turning her attention back to watching the ponies dancing, all turning in almost perfect sync.

As she watched, however, she felt…odd. In some sense it was familiar to the feelings she had before she became Nightmare Moon, but without the bitterness at being ignored or condemned due to being associated with ‘the night’. No, it was much simpler than that, sense of…loneliness was the best word she could think of. Excluded? Maybe that worked better: after all, she had Trixie to sit here with, so she wasn’t lonely. Perhaps…

“Hey, is everything okay?”

Luna snapped out of her thoughts and glanced over at Trixie, who was looking up at her with worry. Having already had the talk about being more open with their feelings, Luna decided it was best to confide in her apprentice.

“Sorry, Trixie. So much of the current world’s traditions are essentially new to me. As much as I try and learn about them the best I can, it seems I always miss something, and I end up on the sidelines like this. I may not be the ‘social caterpillar’ –”

“Social butterfly,” Trixie interjected.

“See, even something as simple as idioms requires correction! Anyway, I may not be the ‘social butterfly’ that my sister is, but I had thought after all this time I was starting to catch onto what the world was like now. Moments like this just remind me of just how much I have missed these last thousand years, and it’s just so frustrating.”

Luna’s ear flicked as she heard Trixie sigh and stand up, and soon she saw the mare’s hoof in front of her.

“Alright, if that’s the problem, then let me say ‘Can I have this dance, madame?’”

Luna looked down at the hoof and then back up at Trixie, who was giving her a smile. A somewhat forced smile – Trixie had already made her disdain for this dance quite clear – but a smile none the less.

“Trixie, there’s no need to –”

“Look, I’ve done the whole ‘sit on the side of the gym cause no one wanted to dance with you’ thing, and it sucks. Saving you from that is the least I can do as your Great and Powerful apprentice,” Trixie said, her smile growing more sincere. Luna found it hard to resist matching it, and so she didn’t try.

“Very well, Trixie. It will be my honor to dance with you this evening.”

Luna grabbed a hold of Trixie’s hoof and stood up. Not wanting to interrupt the dancers already on the floor, the two decided to stay near to the buffet table. As they began to try and stand on their hindlegs, though, a very obvious problem began to appear. Trixie was supposed to be taking the lead, being the one who knew the steps and all, but, well, when standing on their hindlegs the mare only came up to Luna’s chest, barely.

“Trixie, are you sure about this?” Luna said, awkwardly trying to figure out where her other foreleg was supposed to go while the other still held Trixie’s hoof.

“It’s fine, it’s fine. Just give me a second,” Trixie said.

Luna could feel Trixie’s foreleg settling at her waist, by which she meant it was laid against her side. Glancing at the other ponies, Luna noted it was supposed to be across the other ponies back.

“Okay, just, uh, lower your foreleg and put your other one on my shoulder and we should be good to go,” Trixe continued.

Luna did as she instructed, but glancing down she could see that Trixie’s forelegs were already starting to wobble. Honestly, the whole position felt rather uncomfortable, with the foreleg holding Trixie’s hoof having to bend quite a bit so as to not have Trixie dangling in the air beside her. Though, as Fleur stated, the uncomfortableness was supposed to be the point, with those who master the dancing having grace and dexterity. She had simply forgotten to add flexibility to the list was all.

Shifting her attention towards the other guests, she could see that eyes were beginning to look in their direction, and she could already hear the whispers of gossip.

“Trixie, really, you don’t need to do this…”

“I’m totally fine,” Trixie replied. “You wanted to be a part of this dance thing, so I’m going to help. We’re going to be the best dancers out there…once I can take a step.”

Trixie’s boast of confidence renewed Luna’s spirits. Instead of nervously looking at others she turned her attention to Trixie, who was herself nervously looking down at the ground muttering numbers to try and keep to the pace of the music. Luna smiled, and nodded.

“Very well then, shall we start?”

“We’ll start in 1..2..3...4…5…now!”

On cue, the two began to move about, joining the other ponies in turning. It was rather stilted, but it was a turn at least. And then they turned again, and again, and again. From an outsider’s view it was all rather clunky at best, lacking all the grace and smoothness of Fancy Pants and Fleur’s effortless gliding. Considering the challenges of her height and Trixie’s rustiness, Luna assumed it was over all quite good for a first time.

“Thank you, Trixie, for instructing me in this dance,” Luna said, though she had to stifle a giggle as Trixie was once again mumbling to herself.

“Hmm? Oh, yeah, no problem. Sorry, just trying to remember the steps. One and two and three and foooooo –”

As the two of them began to turn again, Trixie mixed up her left and right hoof, causing the already unstable mare’s legs to finally give in. Within seconds the two of them were falling to the ground.

Well, Trixie was heading towards the ground.

Having been caught up in the dance, Luna hadn’t noticed they had drifted back towards the buffet, not at least until she found herself smashing into the table face first. The good news was that at least gave her something to catch herself on, stopping her from falling all the way. The bad news was that the tip of her horn caught onto the punch bowl, causing it to spill over onto her face before dripping off the side and onto Trixie’s face as well.

“Hey, you two alright?!” Moon Shiner said as he poked his head out from his station underneath the table, some sandwich crumbs spilling from his mouth. The band stopped playing, and Luna could just feel the entirety of the party staring at them.

“Still not the worst party I’ve been too,” Trixie replied. “You okay, Luna?”

Luna, meanwhile, didn’t answer. Instead, her mind was focused on the fact she was rather appreciative of the cherry-flavored drink now soaking into her coat. It would help hide the tremendous blush that was growing on her face as she stood there, hooves hanging onto the far edge of the table as she tried to get her bearings. Gently she began to prop herself back up, taking a step back once she felt secure. The massive amount of punch spilled, however, had made the ground unexpectedly muddy, and once again she found herself slipping. At least this time she avoided the table, but Trixie’s following “Ooof” reminded her this was not a smooth landing either.

“Still. Not. The Worst,” Trixie said in between breathes.

Figuring that standing was now way beyond her ability, Luna rolled off onto the grass. It really didn’t matter at this point that her back was likely going to be stained because she could feel her whole body flushing with anxiety-driven adrenaline as everypony looked at her and Trixie. Grass stains were the least of her worries right now.

“Nice going, Moon Shiner. What, too busy eating sandwiches to pay attention to where they were dancing?” Star Breaker yelled as she emerged from her bush. Moon Shiner, meanwhile, was quickly moving to help Luna and Trixie up as Fleur and Fancy Pants made their way over.

“Your majesty, that was quite the tumble. Would you and your apprentice like to use the club’s showers to clean yourselves off? That punch is going to leave quite a stain if you don’t rinse it out quickly,” Fancy Pants said, keeping his distance lest he too fall into the mess.

“Thank you, Fancy Pants, but I think I’m going to head home for the evening,” Luna responded as she stood up, keeping her face down to try and hide her blush. Between it and the punch, her face was practically purple.

“Hey, there’s no reason to be so upset. It’s my fault we got all tripped up,” Trixie whispered.

“You were simply trying to help me, Trixie, but it appears that helping me fit into modern customs will require more than even your confidence to succeed,” Luna said, keeping to a whisper as well as the two finally regained their footing.

By this point Star Breaker and Moon Shiner had set a little perimeter between them and the crowd, though that didn’t stop everypony else from getting as close as they could anyways..

“I completely understand if you wish to retire for the night,” Fancy Pants said, gesturing at the crowd to get back and give them some room. “My sincere apologies that you have to leave under such circumstances.”

Luna looked up, giving as polite a smile as she could to Fancy Pants and Fleur, having been about the only two this evening she didn’t get annoyed at. Well, that and her little entourage.

“You owe me no apologies, Fancy Pants and Fleur. If anything, it is I who owe you two apologies for having caused such a mess of your party,” she said, glancing back at the ruined buffet table with broken punch bowls and soggy sandwiches. “Now, if you will excuse us, we will be leaving for the evening.”

Luna didn’t even bother to look at everypony else, instead keeping her gaze straight forward on the exit and simply desiring to be there as fast as possible. Sure, she could teleport out of there, but as that would basically be the unicorn equivalent of running out in a tantrum, it would be an even more dramatic scene than her walking out. She was a princess of Equestria, after all! She was going to maintain at least some dignity after all this, and she would not reduce herself by teleporting out in shame.

“If you’re not able to get the stains out, feel free to stop by our spa. Our stylists can work miracles on even the messiest of coats.”

Okay, she will teleport in shame after she dealt with that comment, because at this point she was too tired and hyped up on that panic-adrenaline to care what came out of her mouth next.

“Could everypony here please stop trying to SELL ME THINGS,” Luna said, slipping into the Canterlot Voice at the end as she turned around, glaring at the crowd and just daring whoever said that to speak up.

“Uhm, Luna, I think they were just trying to help,” Trixie replied, and logically Luna knew she was right. But, if there was any time she could perhaps be forgiven for letting lose just a little, it was after she had smashed a table and drenched herself in punch.

“This entire evening I have had to deal with a parade of ponies trying to get me to endorse their products. ‘Luna, buy our airships for the guard’, ‘Luna, the guard needs need my new uniform designs.’ How in the world does my sister deal with your nagging?”

Luna smirked as she saw Jet Set, Upper Crust, Hoity Toity, and a few other ponies slowly begin to back away from the crowd.

“All I wanted this evening was to ‘mingle’ among you all like everypony else, and what do you do? You try and use me for…what was it called, Star Breaker?”

“Uh, insider trading?”

“Yes, insider trading! I admit I am not as well versed in the modern economy like my sister, nor do I blame you all for using this time to engage in business, but that is the only thing you even tried to talk with me about! It was obnoxious, infuriating, and absolutely disappointing! Good night, you scavengers!”

Having felt like she had properly shamed them all, Luna turned around to face the exit. Her face was still flushed from anger, but embarrassment soon overcame that emotion.

“Trixie?” Luna whispered.

“Y-yeah?” Trixie whispered back, glancing between the Princess and the crowd of ponies, whose mouths were just agape.

“I’m sorry for having to abandon you like this, but I don’t believe that I’ll be attending the Gala this year.”

Before Trixie could reply, Luna disappeared a flash of dark blue light, she was gone, leaving Trixie alone with her guards. She hated to leave them to deal with her mess, but at this point it was simply one more thing to throw onto her pile of embarrassment and guilt as she collapsed onto her bed and buried her head in as many pillows as she could muster.

She would deal with how sticky her coat felt much, much later.

Author's Note:

So, this whole dinner party thing was supposed to be, like, one chapter. Then it turned into three simply because I was having too much fun with the character interactions. It does kill off what I originally had planned for what's next, but I think it works out for the best anyway as thinking on it I basically had a bunch of padding. So we're going to get to the Gala soon!

Also, anyone else know of stories where insider trading was a plot point?

Comments

[Ninjadeadbeard]

Every time I see this story update, I get violently angry because I know it will end at some point and I won't get my Trixie-Luna apprenticeship fix. You write too well. Darn you.

[Frankie2]

I feel so bad for Luna right now.